Sunday, 28 April 2013

International Law students can choose to compete in various international moot
court competitions for class credit, including Phillip C. Jessup, ICC Moot
Court, and Jean Pictet. However, these competitions are not for the faint at
heart and not to be entered lightly! They are huge time commitments that will
span several quarters, consuming at least two of them. It was my privilege to
serve as coach for this year’s ICC Moot Court team, and I am awed by the team’s
heroic effort and dedication to excellence.

The team assembled in the first quarter, and the three briefs – prosecution,
victim, and defense – were due near the end of the second quarter. The third
quarter featured first national qualifying rounds and then, at the very end of
the quarter, the international rounds. All in conjunction with class work, term
papers and projects, and externship/clinical program demands. Even from my purely
supporting role on the sidelines, it was a grueling race to the finish! Endless
mooting and brainstorming sessions in the weeks leading up to the final rounds;
then the week of the final rounds, the entire team sharing a rented apartment in
The Hague, working day and night to prepare our three presenters, all
non-native English speakers, for their submissions and rebuttals. It was a phenomenal
experience to watch the team rally in the face of obstacles such as the belated
receipt of opposing counsel briefs, and come out fighting – strong, resilient,
and holding their own against the best teams in world. It was an exciting week,
and an exhausting one!

Deciding to enter such a competition is much like deciding to run a
marathon. Anyone in good health can run a 5K, a distance easily managed in 30
minutes or so. Most can also manage a 10K; a half-marathon within reach of those
willing to commit to a training schedule. But marathons are something else;
they are definitely not for everyone. They require a long-term commitment to daily
interval training. You must not only push yourself but pace yourself, develop an
instinct for knowing when to take a break and when to push through pain and
injuries. And in beginning such a race, you must see it through to the end.
There can be no whimpering back to the starting line when you hit the wall; rather,
you carry on and move forward, albeit limping and groaning every step of the
way, to the finish line. The only losers are those who lose heart and give up.
Everyone who crosses that finish line is a winner, because in the end it’s not
about how fast you ran or who got there before you; rather, it’s about setting
a goal and seeing it through. Your toughest competition will always be with
yourself.

Life is also like a marathon; not for the faint of heart! Setbacks,
defeats, unexpected health issues, deaths, betrayals, and just plain weariness
can at times make you want to give up. But after a good rant, a good cry, a
good sleep, you realize you are no quitter, you get that second wind, and you
push through to the finish. No matter what or who in life lets you down, you
will always have yourself to fall back on. And, those very special team mates
who will never, ever, let you down. They are out there, you will find them, and
they will help you rally to the finish. Victory is sweet!

Sunday, 21 April 2013

The good news, the sun has finally decided to make an appearance and stick
around more or less consistently. And it has become quite the night owl! You
emerge from a restaurant after dinner to find the sun waiting up for
you, and query, “Shouldn’t you be in bed?” But you ask cheerfully, as it is
rather nice to be accompanied by such a sunny disposition on your way home. And
there is so much you can accomplish with all that extra daylight! Whether you
work at home or travel to school or to your externship, you no longer start and
end your working day in the dark. Somehow all those hours spent doing research
don’t seem quite so onerous when you know the sun will outlast your attention
span. At the end of your working day you can still follow the sun, here, there
and everywhere! You can go running outdoors rather than on a treadmill at the
gym, or go for a long bike ride in the countryside rather than sprinting
through town in the dark. Late outdoor festivals, diverse water craft drift along
the canal late into the evening, and the barbeque calls out for a light. Good
day, sunshine!

However, there is also some bad news. Although the sun is staying up later every
night, it never seems to sleep in anymore; it just keeps getting up earlier! Now
you ask, “What goes on in your mind?” You wake up in what seems like the middle
of the night, and there it is, streaming through your window, more audaciously
insistent than a hungry cat. Golden slumbers indeed! You pull a pillow over your
head, groaning, “I’m only sleeping!” Sure, you could use a sleep mask, but the
problem is that the sun has awakened the birds and those birds can sing; it’s Blue
Jay Way outside your window. Ok, make that a sleep mask and ear plugs, and pretend
they are singing in the dead of night. And in the end, you finally just get up; nothing to say but it's OK. Thinking of all you can accomplish on what promises
to be a very long day – if you can stay awake, that is! On such a hard day's night, the Sun King can wear out his welcome. Mr. Moonlight, come again please!

Ah well, that’s a day in the life in the
Netherlands, always the tradeoffs. No free refills of coffee or tea, but always
a cookie or piece of chocolate served alongside. No hot water in the W.C.’s,
but heated towel racks in the bathroom. All those rules and regulations, yet
with respect to personal choices always letting it be. No place to park but a
ticket to ride on always-timely public transport. Because, there is always something.
It’s all right!

Sunday, 14 April 2013

American
Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and
go to the grave with the song still in them.” And according to Pink Floyd, “Hanging
on in quiet desperation is the English way.” Evidently, it is not the Dutch
way! According to the UN World Happiness Report, the Netherlands is the fourth
happiest country in the world. It is ranked by the OECD as the third-best
country for work-life balance and highest in terms of overall well-being. Why?
Perhaps it is more a matter of attitude than amplitude.

First,
the Dutch value free time. They work an average of 30.6 hours per week, as
compared to the EU average of 37.5 and American average of 46-50 hours. This
leaves quality time for doing things,
rather than keeping one’s nose firmly to the grindstone simply to buy things. Even
students trying to keep up with the insanely-paced quarter system always find time to
have some fun. Utrecht has so many
pubs and cafes to choose from, all with inexpensive and fabulous beer, wine and
coffee, not to mention one cultural event or another happening on any given
weekend!

Second,
the Dutch like to live simply and self-sufficiently. Take the biking culture. Everyone
bikes everywhere, regardless of weather or destination, in whatever attire the
destination requires – without a lot of concern over arriving with wet hair or
shoes. Practicality is far more important than appearances, which is quite
liberating!

Third,
the Dutch are at heart egalitarian. The notion of “keeping up with the Joneses”
is not a factor for the simple reason that “the Joneses” are frowned upon as
pretentious anyway. The only pecking order one need concern oneself with is
that of the road. And that is simple: bikes, pedestrians, and then
cars. (But trams trump all!)

Fourth, the Dutch are both very
organized and very tolerant, qualities likely arising from many centuries of reclaiming
land from the sea. Historically, all factions living in the same polder area were
forced to cooperate, even if at war with one other, to fulfill a greater common
purpose – literally keeping their heads above water! The complexities of maintaining
dykes and sluices, coordinating ships passage through the locks on all those canals,
all require the ability to forge a consensus and get along. This
explains perhaps the large degree of organization and planning in Dutch society – juxtaposed
with tolerance for drugs, prostitution, and controlled chaos such as the Utrecht
phenomena of, for example, raucous, police-led skate nights through the center
of town!

But, at the end of the day, it’s
the drop. I am talking about black licorice, of course, which comes in more varieties than
Belgian beers. Sweet, minty, and salty – and double salty! Hard,
soft, chewy, or crusted, formed into every shape imaginable, coins, animals, even
cars. There are stores with bins that cover entire walls, each filled with different
types of drop to scoop up, mix and match. Yes, there is the chocolate, the
breads, and the cheeses, all so good you will go home thinking your local fare
tastes like sawdust. But drop, and the love of drop, is as uniquely and
quintessentially Dutch as it gets. Dutch people eat more black licorice than
any other people in the world, on average 5 pounds per year per person! And that,
my friends, is why the Dutch are so happy!

Sunday, 7 April 2013

Local proverbs can either fall into the “lost in translation” category,
or present a whole new way of looking at things! Here are some Dutch proverbs and
metaphors along with a literal English translation. I shall leave it to you to
discern the true meaning!

“Waar
de zon schijnt, is de maan niet nodig.” – Where the sun shines the moon is not
needed.

“Heb
je geen paard, gebruik dan een ezel.” – If you have no horse, then use a
donkey.